Like Old Times
by roca dos
Summary: One look can convey so much. Linzin.
1. Lin

**Disclaimer: Don't own LoK.**

**AN: ****SPOILERS for Ep. 6! This is my f****irst Tenzin x Lin drabble, let me know what you think! ;) ****Oh, and, is it Linzin or Tenlin?**

* * *

She asks the question and he replies in kind. They reach a truce of sorts to work together for a night. "Like old times," they both agree.

It then becomes difficult not to be acutely aware of his presence, so close to her own. But, she is not alone. Tenzin is not as unaffected as he appears. Her mother taught her well and Lin can sense the quickening of his heart, fluttering as fast as it once did.

That look, his face, his _eyes_. All the things that have remained unsaid for so long pass between them in silence.

_A mutual crush that grew to young love._

_A promise of forever._

_The life that could've been._

As they walk together, as they stand side by side looking out into the arena, it all floods back to her in a heady rush.

_His hand on her hip, flesh against flesh._

_Fingers through her hair, her lips claiming his._

The intimate knowledge of the other that each possess can never be undone or forgotten. Not back then when the end arrived, not now when something looms just beyond.

_Moving above him, her grin teases, taunts._

_Until he flips them, making her gasp, making her smile in surprise._

It is a part of them - their history - and it will always be. What and who has happened since cannot change that. And sometimes, sometimes it doesn't seem like it was so long ago.

_The weight of his body, the feel of his skin._

_"Lin..." the whispered growl in her ear..._

Chief Beifong contains the shudder that begins at her core. She crosses her arms, forcing away the memories to focus at the task at hand.


	2. Tenzin

Her green eyes soften, that ever-present scowl marring her beautiful face disappears, and Tenzin is taken back to another time.

_"Hurry up!" Lin barked, her hair loose, falling over her shoulder and he watched her for a moment, dumbfounded with how incredibly pretty she looked._

_"I... This isn't how I thought we would..._you know,_" he replied, carefully removing his robes with unsteady hands._

_"If it were up to you _this_ would never happen!" she accused with a smirk, but her good mood was contagious._

_"It would," he promised, surprised that her eagerness wasn't making him more nervous, but rather the opposite. He'd wanted it for quite some time now, but they were still young. She was seventeen and he was only a year older. "But, it would be different." _

_Definitely not in an earthtent located not far from his parent's home. He wasn't overly romantic, but the way he felt about her...he thought that for Lin, he could be._

_"Different how?" she asked, helping him with his clothes, making his blush. His blush spread when he realized neither was wearing anything anymore. "Never mind," she said, "Where and when wouldn't matter." She paused to look up at him and he could see his affection reflected in her eyes before she leaned in to kiss him._

"Okay. I'll _try_ to be less abrasive than usual."

Her voice brings him back to the present.

"I would appreciate that," he replies and he means it wholeheartedly. He would appreciate any mending, however small, of their strained relationship. As things stand, he and she have not seen much of each other despite living in the same city. Her focus is the Police Force, while he is busy with the Council. And, his growing family. But ever since Korra's arrival, things have somehow begun to change between them and Tenzin can't help wonder...

Given that his father was the only airbender before him, Tenzin was always going to be the one to teach Korra airbending. But now with Amon, and the threat the Equalists pose, Lin has gotten involved. And it seems that Korra, like the Avatar before her was numerous times, has become the catalyst that brings them together again and finds a way to get them talking once more.

_Aang had insisted Lin be__ present when he took Tenzin to meet the flying bison that would be his. The problem with that was Lin wasn't speaking to Tenzin and Tenzin wasn't speaking to her, either. Aang had taken it upon himself to remedy the situation._

_The adorable tiny bison soon made both children forget all about whatever it was they had been fighting about. Lin even__ helped Tenzin pick a name for his new friend. She flew with him the first time Oogi took flight as _his_ bison. Aang suggested that for her own safety she might want to wait until they got a saddle, but Lin accompanied Tenzin anyway because he had been quite anxious not to go alone. She had always been fearless like that, had always looked out for him without leading on that she was._

Now, Tenzin sees her watching the match for a second before her eyes scan the arena for potential dangers and he can't help the quiet sigh that escapes him. He cared for her so deeply once, more than he knew a person could care for another. And he knows a love that great doesn't simply cease to exist. Sometimes...sometimes he dreams of how it could've been. The way they and their parents envisioned it since that one day when he was finally able to get it together and tell her how he felt about her.

It was good in the beginning. So good. Even at their lowest, even when they fought. Even when it got _really_ tough for them...he thought they would find a way.

"I can't believe your sweet-tempered father was reincarnated into that girl," Lin says suddenly. "She's tough as nails."

And she's right, Korra is. But so is she and he tries to tell her so. She huffs and Tenzin smiles wistfully because he can't ever remember Lin not being a part of his life. They have always been linked and it seems they are destined to always be.


End file.
